As part of a major shake-up of its Frequent Flyer program, Qantas has unveiled a fancy new status, Lifetime Platinum, which will launch in September.

Sitting above the Lifetime Silver and Lifetime Gold frequent flyer tiers, Lifetime Platinum will the first of its kind offered by an Australian loyalty program.

But only a tiny proportion of Qantas’ 12.7 million rewards members will be granted entry — a member needs to accrue a whopping 75,000 status credits to get in.

To put that into perspective, a passenger would typically earn 190 status credits on a business class flight from Sydney to Los Angeles — so you’d have to do that 395 times, according to Qantas’ status credit calculator.

Or, you could fly from Sydney to Melbourne in economy 7500 times — that’s every day for 20 years.

Qantas Loyalty chief executive Olivia Wirth admitted it set a “very, very high bar”.

But she said the number one issue for Platinum and Platinum One flyers was many felt they’d reached the limits of the program and wanted more from it.

“This lifetime status ... will give them a lifetime of platinum rewards. This will be incredible rewarding for these members,” Ms Wirth said.

“It is going to be a very, very high bar. It’s an exclusive club — in some ways it’s potentially more exclusive than the Chairman’s Lounge.

“There will be a small number of these individuals, and they will be earning 75,000 status credits.

“Just to put that into perspective, that’s 20 years — two decades — of flying at Platinum One.”

Platinum One benefits, which Lifetime Platinum members would be able enjoy for life, include access to Qantas International first class lounges and domestic business lounges, and 100 per cent status bonuses on Qantas and Jetstar.

Members are also able to enjoy preferred seat, priorty check-in and boarding on all flights, priority checked baggage, access to premium security lanes, and have service fees waived on bookings.

Even while they’re not in the air, Platinum One members enjoy benefits including free membership to the exclusive Qantas Golf Club, and can have all their travel queries catered to by the dedicated Platinum one team — that means no waiting on hold with the regular Qantas call centre.

The secretive, invitation-only Chairman’s Lounge offers the highest level of service possible for a Qantas customer and has been described by the airline’s chief executive Alan Joyce as “probably the most exclusive club in the country”.

But the Lifetime Platinum club could be just as tricky, requiring many, many years of flying to earn the status points to get in.

Qantas said it was not changing its membership tiers or their eligibility criteria. Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum One status tiers will remain, along with lifetime status for Silver and Gold members.

Flyers need 300 status credits to reach Silver membership and 7000 for Lifetime Silver. To reach Gold status, flyers need 700 status credits and 14,000 for life membership.

Platinum status requires 1400 status credits and Platinum One needs 3600.

The changes to the airline’s Frequent Flyer program, announced today, will affect the way rewards members redeem their points.

Qantas is opening up a million extra seats on flights for frequent flyers and will slash carrier’s fees, but upgrades to premium cabins will cost more points.

“There’s a lot about the Qantas Frequent Flyer program that our members tell us they love but there are also areas of the program that have increasingly come under pressure as a result of rapid expansion,” Ms Wirth said.

“What we’re announcing today is all about investing more into the heart of our program, the member experience.”